[olympiaworkers] Fast-food workers in Detroit walk off job, disrupt business

May 10, 2013 By Steve Neavling and Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) - Hundreds of fast-food employees in Detroit walked off the job
on Friday, temporarily shuttering a handful of outlets as part of a
growing U.S. worker movement that is demanding higher wages for flipping
burgers and operating fryers.

The protests in the Motor City - which is struggling to recover from the
hollowing out of its auto manufacturing sector - marked an expansion in
organized actions by fast-food workers from ubiquitous chains owned by
McDonald's Corp, Burger King Worldwide and KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut
parent Yum Brands Inc.

Fast-food workers, who already have taken to the streets in New York,
Chicago and St. Louis, are seeking to roughly double their hourly pay to
$15 per hour from around minimum wage, which in Michigan is $7.40 per
hour.

Organizers said more than 400 people turned out for the Detroit event, the
most to date.

They also said the walk-outs forced the temporary closures of two
McDonald's restaurants, a Burger King, a Subway, a Long John Silver's and
a Popeyes in Detroit - a claim some chains disputed.

Outside a Burger King on 8 Mile in Detroit, employee Claudette Wilson said
she's tired of poor wages, especially at a time when the fast-food
industry continues to grow.

"I make minimum wage, which is what I made when I started working in fast
food three years ago," the 20-year-old college student said. "I can't
understand how the industry is growing but our wages aren't."

Organizers said the Detroit metro area has 53,000 fast-food jobs, which
pay at or just above minimum wage.

The fast-food workforce is twice as large as that of the region's famed
auto manufacturing sector and is projected to grow faster than the
region's overall workforce in the coming years, organizers said.

"People can't make a living at $7.40 a hour," said Rev. Charles Williams
II, a protest organizer. "Many of them have babies and children to raise,
and they can't get by with these kind of wages."

Those workers face high hurdles in their fight for better pay. Low-wage,
low-skill workers lack political clout and face significantly higher
unemployment than college graduates.

U.S. President Barack Obama proposed raising the federal minimum wage in
his State of the Union address as a way to help lift some workers out of
poverty. But critics of such a move, including representatives for the
nearly $200 billion U.S. fast-food industry, say it would kill jobs by
burdening small businesses with higher costs.

PROTESTS, DISPUTES

At a Long John Silver's on Detroit's east side, a lone manager tended the
restaurant as the presence of protesters appeared to stifle business.

A McDonald's spokeswoman told Reuters its Michigan restaurants were "open,
and operating as usual". Burger King said none of its restaurants were
shut down and no workers walked off the job.

Representatives from Subway, Long John Silver's and AFC Enterprises'
Popeyes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Margaret Neal, 52, said frustration with the low wage she earns after more
than a decade working at a McDonald's in Detroit prompted her to join
Friday's protests.

Asked about her pay, Neal said: "You don't even want to know, I've been
there 15 years. I'm still making $8.83 (an hour). That's not right."

Neal, who works full-time, says her bosses have told her she is "maxed
out" at her current wage and ineligible for an increase.

The vast majority of McDonald's more than 14,000 U.S. restaurants are
owned and operated by franchisees. The company said in a statement that
McDonald's employees are paid competitive wages, have access to a range of
benefits and opportunities for training and career advancement.

The Detroit action was put together by the Michigan Workers Organizing
Committee, an independent union of fast-food workers, that is supported by
community, labor and faith-based groups such as the Interfaith Coalition
of Pastors, UFCW Local 876, SEIU Healthcare Michigan and Good Jobs Now.

[olympiaworkers] Lonmin miners strike in S.Africa, unnerving investors

Tue Mar 5, 2013 11:50am Reuters

* Wildcat strike launched as media tours mine

* Confusion sends rand, platinum, shares on bumpy ride

* Union feud at heart of dispute

By Sherilee Lakmidas

MARIKANA, South Africa, March 5 (Reuters) - Workers went on a wildcat
strike at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine in South Africa on Tuesday,
embarrassing the company as it launched a publicity drive to try and show
it had recovered from months of deadly labour unrest.

The world's third-largest platinum producer invited journalists to tour
the mine, but the public relations exercise backfired as thousands of
workers took advantage of the media spotlight to down tools at four
shafts.

Confusion mounted after the company said they had all returned to work,
only to revise its statement when it became clear miners at two of the
shafts remained above ground.

The conflicting statements sent platinum prices, South Africa's rand and
Lonmin's shares on a bumpy ride, highlighting nerves over the health of
the country's key mining sector after months of labour unrest.

Disruptions at Marikana are particularly closely watched as it was the
site where 34 striking miners were shot dead by police last August in
South Africa's deadliest security incident since the end of apartheid in
1994.

"Things are still not right," said Johannes Liofo, a rock drill operator
at Lonmin's Karee mine. Speaking at a rock face and drenched in sweat, he
said he was still waiting for working conditions to improve.

Lonmin said workers affiliated to the Association of Mineworkers and
Construction Union (AMCU) refused to go underground on Tuesday, demanding
the closure of the offices of a rival union.

AMCU has a reputation for militancy and one of its shift bosses, Phahla
Mekela, said there was still a high level of absenteeism at the shafts,
something he attributed to widespread resentment among workers and a long
list of demands still unmet.

Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey said the miners had taken advantage of the
presence of the world's media to stage a stoppage and make their point.

"They made use of the opportunity to convey their message. They have been
heard," she said.

TURF WAR, ROUND TWO

AMCU Members are demanding the closure of the offices of the rival
National Union of Mineworkers because they say it is no longer the largest
body representing workers there.

The turf war between AMCU and NUM, which is a powerful political ally of
the ruling African National Congress, was at the heart of much of the
unrest that hit the platinum and gold mining sectors in South Africa last
year, triggering labour violence that killed over 50 people.

The union rivalry has shaken investor confidence in Africa's largest
economy and the world's top platinum producer and led to credit downgrades
for the country.

The rand initially fell to a session low of 9.1173 and then recovered
after the company said the strike was over. Lonmin's share price fell as
much as 2 percent in Johannesburg while platinum prices jumped over 1
percent, leap-frogging gold before easing back to parity with bullion.

Investors are also nervously monitoring union reaction to plans by Anglo
American Platinum, the world's top producer of the precious metal, to
restore profits by mothballing two mines and cutting up to 14,000 jobs.

The platinum belt northwest of Johannesburg remains a flashpoint of social
and labour tension after it was the scene of riots last year and
widespread intimidation as AMCU recruited workers angered at the NUM
leadership, which they see as out of touch with the rank and file and too
close to the ANC.

Glaring income disparities and grinding poverty in the shantytowns around
the platinum mines have also fueled the violence.

2 rabble rousing analysts on Latin America + Israeli Apartheid Week!

Laura Carlsen, two major talks in Olympia on the Drug Wars and Neoliberalism.
1) Latin America's Challenge to Neoliberalism https://www.facebook.com/events/214326362039336
Monday, March 4, 2013 7-9pm, Olympia Center, Room 101, 222 N Columbia St, Downtown Olympia
2) A Nation at Risk: Drug Wars, Democracy, and Dependency in Mexico https://www.facebook.com/events/446797372059675
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 11am-1pm, The Evergreen State College, Seminar II, Room E1105

Laura Carlsen is a political analyst and writer who has lived in Mexico City for 25 years and is  the Director of The Americas Program, www.cipamericas.org, at the Center for International Policy,  She has written extensively on NAFTA, the drug war, immigration and gender issues in Americas Updater, Counterpunch, La Jornada and others. She is a columnist for Huffington Post and Foreign Policy in Focus, and a commentator with Al Jazeera, CCTV, NBC, Democracy Now!, NPR and Mexican television and radio stations. Laura Carlsen is co-editor of "Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration and Popular Resistance in Mexico" and has participated as an analyst and activist in the movement against militarization and the drug war on both sides of the border. Both events are free and open to the public! Sponsored by OMJP (Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace), MEChA de Evergreen and the TESC Political Economy and Social Movements Program.

EVENT: Eyewitness Updates on Honduras: Attacks on LGBTQ Community and Unions
https://www.facebook.com/events/406819922734669/
Friday, March 8, 6PM, Media Island, 816 Adams St. SE, Olympia, free event (donations accepted), food for purchase by MIJAS
Come out to hear Chuck Kaufman as he speaks about his first hand experiences organizing delegations to Honduras. Three years after the Honduras coup, Indigenous, LGBTQ, Teachers, Labor and Farmers are subjected to continual violence. The Resistance Front calls for greater international solidarity to stop the violence. This is Chuck Kaufman's final stop on a NW tour speaking on this issue, Evergreen masters student Caitlin Payne Roberts will give a recap of her experience doing solidarity work in Honduras and the delegation trip she took with Chuck. Introducing both will be Bruce Wilkinson, who traveled to Honduras 6 months after the coup and now works for Alliance For Global Justice. MIJAS will be selling food and talk about their project in honor of International Women's Day.

On June 28, 2009, democratically elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was rousted from his bed by the military and flown into exile. Under the coup government, and the illegitimate government of Porfirio Lobo, "selected in sham elections," violence and repression against the people of Honduras has continued to grow.

• More than 55 small farmers, members of cooperatives farming land they are entitled to under the country's land reform laws, have been murdered by government forces and "security guards" of large landowners.
• Thirty LGBTQ activists have been murdered, many of them tortured and mutilated first.
• African-descended Garifuna people on Honduras' Caribbean Coast are being violently evicted to make way for tourism projects.
• In May, four indigenous Miskito people, including two pregnant women, a 14-year old boy and a 21-year old youth were wrongfully slaughtered when a US helicopter with DEA agents aboard, negligently fired at Miskito families in a community boat. Four other indigenous family members of the boat were badly wounded. Six of the sixteen persons on the boat were children.

The US government trains and funds the Honduran military and corrupt police. It was the primary force behind recognizing the coup government and returning Honduras to membership in the Organization of American States.

Join Chuck Kaufman who has traveled to Honduras frequently since the coup to learn about the violence against marginalized communities there, how they are fighting for their economic and civil rights, and what you can do to help. Chuck Kaufman is National Co-Coordinator of the Alliance for Global Justice with 25 years of Latin America solidarity work and anti-war, anti-US militarism work in the US. He has led many delegations to Honduras since the coup and is one of the key organizers in the Honduras Solidarity Network.

AFTER the EVENT: Heartsparkle Players – Playback Theatre:  "Stories of Women Making a Better World: Their Struggles, Successes and Resilience" in recognition of International Women's Day, and in collaboration with the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation, 7:30, Traditions, $5-10

ALSO: Israeli Apartheid Week at The Evergreen State College
https://www.facebook.com/events/397306510366028/

You're invited to Evergreen's Second Annual Israeli Apartheid Week!

During this week, hosting by the Mideast Solidarity Project and the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, please join us in conversation about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement. If you don't know what BDS is, come to these events! If you aren't sure why "apartheid" is an accurate term, or disagree, come to these events! We will have current Evergreen students reporting on their recent travels in Palestine, in addition to various films and an introductory workshop. We welcome everybody--students, friends, community members, faculty, and staff. All events will have facilitated discussions after the main event.

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW): March 4th- 8th. More info about the international movement: http://apartheidweek.org/

Sunday: Author and Activist, Remi Kanazi: Hosted by MSP and The Rachel Corrie Foundation
Time: 2-4PM workshop, 6PM poetry reading Location: the Washington State Labor Council, 906 Columbia St. SW.
https://www.facebook.com/events/288730851256532/

Monday: Intro to Israel/ Palestine
Time: 4-5 PM Location: Lecture Hall 3
https://www.facebook.com/events/539843806050493

Student Report back from Palestine
Time: 5:30- 7 PM Location: Lecture Hall 3
https://www.facebook.com/events/407730202653910

Wednesday: Film screening: Five Broken Cameras
Time: 6 Pm Location: Lecture Hall 3
https://www.facebook.com/events/506621916054946

Thursday: Film Screening: Slingshot Hip-Hop
Time: 4 PM Location: Sem 2 B1105
https://www.facebook.com/events/496086030429158

Sponsored by Mid-East Solidarity Project

###

To unsubscribe from this list: https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mediaisland

[olympiaworkers] Honduras: Attacks on LGBTQ & Unions; Rising Resistance Front! Speaker Chuck Kaufman, 3/8 6pm, Media Island

EVENT: Eyewitness Updates on Honduras: Attacks on LGBTQ Community and Unions
https://www.facebook.com/events/406819922734669/
Friday, March 8, 6PM, Media Island, 816 Adams St. SE, Olympia, free event (donations accepted)
Come out to hear Chuck Kaufman as he speaks about his first hand experiences organizing delegations to Honduras. Three years after the Honduras coup, Indigenous, LGBTQ, Teachers, Labor and Farmers are subjected to continual violence. The Resistance Front calls for greater international solidarity to stop the violence. This is Chuck Kaufman's final stop on a NW tour speaking on this issue, Evergreen masters student Caitlin Payne Roberts will give a recap of her experience doing solidarity work in Honduras and the delegation trip she took with Chuck. Introducing both will be Bruce Wilkinson, who traveled to Honduras 6 months after the coup and now works for Alliance For Global Justice.

On June 28, 2009, democratically elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was rousted from his bed by the military and flown into exile. Under the coup government, and the illegitimate government of Porfirio Lobo, "selected in sham elections," violence and repression against the people of Honduras has continued to grow.

• More than 55 small farmers, members of cooperatives farming land they are entitled to under the country's land reform laws, have been murdered by government forces and "security guards" of large landowners.
• Thirty LGBTQ activists have been murdered, many of them tortured and mutilated first.
• African-descended Garifuna people on Honduras' Caribbean Coast are being violently evicted to make way for tourism projects.
• In May, four indigenous Miskito people, including two pregnant women, a 14-year old boy and a 21-year old youth were wrongfully slaughtered when a US helicopter with DEA agents aboard, negligently fired at Miskito families in a community boat. Four other indigenous family members of the boat were badly wounded. Six of the sixteen persons on the boat were children.

The US government trains and funds the Honduran military and corrupt police. It was the primary force behind recognizing the coup government and returning Honduras to membership in the Organization of American States.

Join Chuck Kaufman who has traveled to Honduras frequently since the coup to learn about the violence against marginalized communities there, how they are fighting for their economic and civil rights, and what you can do to help. Chuck Kaufman is National Co-Coordinator of the Alliance for Global Justice with 25 years of Latin America solidarity work and anti-war, anti-US militarism work in the US. He has led many delegations to Honduras since the coup and is one of the key organizers in the Honduras Solidarity Network.

AFTER the EVENT: Heartsparkle Players – Playback Theatre:  "Stories of Women Making a Better World: Their Struggles, Successes and Resilience" in recognition of International Women's Day, and in collaboration with the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation, 7:30, Traditions, $5-10

-bruce
360-742-0864

[olympiaworkers] The machines of self-management have been switched on!

From Viome http://www.viome.org/

After 3 days of intense mobilization, the factory of Vio.Me. has started
production under workers' control earlier today! It is the first
experiment in industrial self-management in crisis-striken Greece, and the
workers of Vio.Me. are confident this is going to be only the first in a
series of such endeavors.
The march was massive and vibrant.

The mobilization kicked off with a big
assembly of the workers and solidary organizations and individuals in
a central downtown theater on Sunday evening. Here the course of
action of the solidarity movement was discussed, and everyone had the
chance to take the microphone and to express their opinion on the workers'
struggle.
Really talented artists played in support of the Vio.Me struggle.

On Monday evening there was a march in
the city center followed by a huge benefit concert with several well
known folk bands and singers. Among them Thanassis Papakonstantinou,
one of the most important contemporary Greek songwriters who is in a
sense "part of the movement" since he always supports with word
and deed the efforts of society for self-determination. The
attendance exceeded everyone's expectations. Unfortunately about a
thousand people didn't manage to get in, as the stadium was packed.
The stellar moment of the night was when the workers took the
microphone and explained their vision of another society, based on
social justice, solidarity and self-management. Five thousand people
were applauding, shouting and chanting songs of support. It was then
that everyone realized that this endeavor is bound to succeed!
One of the Vio.Me. workers addresses the people.

Early next morning the mobilization went on with a vibrant march towards
the factory. The workers were
already in their positions and the production was triumphantly
kick-started in front of the cameras of national, local and
alternative media. The workers organized a guided tour of the factory
and explained all the details of the production process to journalists
and participants in the solidarity movement.
The first batch of products produced under worker's control!

There is still a long
road ahead: The costs of production are high, access to credit is
impossible and getting a part of the market in
times of recession is uncertain. The workers are however optimistic:
The proceeds from the benefit gig and the donations of supportive
groups and individuals collected through viome.org should be
enough to keep the company afloat in the first few months. And the
support of the social movements means many of the products will be
distributed through the existing structures of social and solidary
economy. The workers of Vio.Me. are already researching new cleaning
products, based on non-toxic ecological ingredients, apt for home
use. The factory makes quality building materials (mortars, plasters,
tile adhesive paste and jointing materials, waterproof grouts, etc.)
and the workers know very well how to improve the quality even more
while lowering the production costs and hence the price. The
challenge is now to find a market for these materials, which
unfortunately are too voluminous to be transported across long
distances, and should be sold within Greece or the surrounding Balkan
countries.
The 40 workers of Vio.Me. and hundreds
of participants in the solidarity movement have for three days
lived an unforgettable experience, which however is only the start of a
long and difficult road. Now more than ever we need to be united and
strong, determined to build a new world based on solidarity, justice
and self-management!

[olympiaworkers] Fired workers taken to court for blogging about work conditions

Dec. 11, 2012 libcom.org

Solidarity with the Workers of Natais popcorn factory in France! Exposed
to hazardous substances, forced to work on precarious conditions, the
workers tried to fight back. On Thursday, two former employees will be in
court for supposedly "defaming" their former employer!

On Thursday, December 13, 2012, former workers from the Natais popcorn
factory in Bézéril, France will go to trial for supposed „defamation" of
their ex-employer, for talking about their working conditions on a blog.

Among the problems the workers faced was exposure to Diacetyl. This
chemical can cause bronchitis obliterans, also known as „popcorn workers'
lung", or other serious respiratory illnesses. Diacetyl is a component of
the artificial butter flavor used in microwave popcorn. Bronchitis
obliterans is irreversible and can lead to death.

The workers at Natais popcorn factory are not even given masks to protect
themselves from the vapors. They also must work in extreme heat. Around
80% of the people at the factory are temporary workers. The work is hard,
people are sometimes forced to work on Sundays, the pay is bad.

There was even a strike at the factory. A year-end bonus was won, but then
the union called off the strike. Some workers however tried to keep
fighting. For trying to speak out against these conditions, a case was
brought against 2 of the strikers, now former workers of the company.

We call on comrades around the world to support this case by sending an
email to the company. info@popcorn.fr

Sample text: We demand an end to the repression of Natais workers and
support their struggle for safer working conditions and job security. (Add
whatever you like to text.)

You can also BCC or forward your mail to sia32@no-log.org, the local union
in Gers which has been involved.

Some leaflets and more information in different languages is available
here: http://www.zsp.net.pl/natais

[olympiaworkers] Los Angeles port strike triggers fears, lobbying by businesses

(Reuters) - A national coalition of U.S. business groups is urging an end
to a strike at the twin California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
amid fears that a prolonged stand-off will cost the American economy many
billions of dollars, and could even spread to the east coast.

Trade groups led by the National Retail Federation have sent letters to
U.S. President Barack Obama and leading members of Congress asking them to
intervene and help end the strike at America's two busiest container
harbor facilities. Those industry groups say the strike, which entered its
sixth day on Sunday, is already costing $1 billion a day.

The labor dispute has been triggered by 500 clerical workers at the ports,
members of the relatively small Office of Clerical Union Workers. Their
industrial action and clout has been significantly strengthened because
some 10,000 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union
have supported them, refusing to cross the clerical workers' picket lines.

Their action has effectively shut down 10 of the two ports' combined 14
container terminals. Four other container terminals have remained opened,
along with facilities for handling break-bulk cargo such as raw steel and
tanker traffic.

Industry groups say they have fresh memories of a 10-day lockout at West
Coast ports in 2002. They estimate that dispute cost the U.S. economy $1
billion a day and that it took six months before the supply chains fully
recovered.

Groups are also warily monitoring an ongoing labor dispute between the
International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance
which could affect ports from Maine to Texas.

The employment contract between the two groups expired at the end of
September without a new agreement. The contract was temporarily extended
for 90 days, until the end of this year. A federal mediator has stepped in
to oversee negotiations to try an avert a strike that would hit at least
14 ports along the East and Gulf coasts.

"Our members are very nervous and very upset about the impact of the (Los
Angeles) strike on their businesses," said Jonathan Gold, vice president
of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation.

"We have had a lot of feedback. They have very fresh memories of what
happened in 2002 and what is happening on the east coast."

Gold said his organization has been working with groups including the
American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Retail Industry Leaders
Industry Association and the Harbor Truckers Association to pressure
lawmakers in Washington to end the stand-off.

The NRF sent a letter to Obama last week asking him to intervene. Barbara
Boxer and Diane Feinstein, California's two Democratic senators, have also
urged both sides to resolve the dispute.

Negotiations ran late into Saturday and continued Sunday. The clerks had
been without a contract for more than two years when labor talks with
management broke off on Monday. The chief stumbling block has been the
future of union representation for jobs that are lost through retirement.

ILWU leaders are demanding that jobs traditionally performed by their
members remain classified as union work and subject to the union's
contract terms, even after individuals holding those jobs retire. They
accuse the management of seeking to outsource union clerical jobs to
overseas workers paid far less in wages and benefits.

The Port of Los Angeles, the nation's busiest container harbor facility,
and second-ranked Long Beach together handled more than $400 billion in
goods arriving or leaving the West Coast by ship, L.A. port spokesman
Philip Sanfield said.

[olympiaworkers] Fire kills 112 workers at Bangladesh garment-maker

Nov. 25, 2012 Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Fire raced up the floors of a garment factory in
Bangladesh, killing at least 112 people, many of them trapped in the
eight-story building with no emergency exits where they make clothes for
major global retailers.

The factory outside the capital, Dhaka, is owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd.,
a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which makes products for Wal-Mart and
other companies in the U.S. and Europe.

Firefighters recovered at least 100 bodies from the factory and 12 more
people died at hospitals after jumping from the building to escape, Maj.
Mohammad Mahbub, fire department operations director, told The Associated
Press on Sunday.

Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed. The cause of the
blaze that began late Saturday was not immediately clear, and authorities
ordered an investigation.

Army soldiers and border guards were helping keep order as thousands of
onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered, Mahbub
said.

Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after a May 16, 2011, audit
conducted by an "ethical sourcing" assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a
document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify what led
to the rating.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said online documents indicating an
orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a
yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared
to pertain to the factory. The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would
conduct another inspection within one year.

Gardner said it was not clear if that inspection had been conducted or
whether the factory was still making products for Wal-Mart.

If a factory is rated "orange" three times in two years, Wal-Mart won't
place any orders for one year. The May 2011 report was the first orange
rating for the factory.

Neither Tazreen's owner nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for
comment.

The Tuba Group is a major Bangladeshi garment exporter whose clients also
include Carrefour and IKEA, according to its website. Its factories export
garments to the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, among
other countries. The Tazreen factory, which opened in 2009 and employed
about 1,700 people, made polo shirts, fleece jackets and T-shirts.

Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories, many without proper safety
measures. The country annually earns about $20 billion from exports of
garment products, mainly to the U.S. and Europe.

In its 2012 Global Responsibility report, Wal-Mart said that "fire safety
continues to be a key focus for brands and retailers sourcing from
Bangladesh." Wal-Mart said it ceased working with 49 factories in
Bangladesh in 2011 because of fire safety issues, and was working with its
supplier factories to phase out production from buildings deemed high
risk.

At the factory, relatives of the workers frantically looked for their
loved ones. Sabina Yasmine said she saw the body of her daughter-in-law,
but had seen no trace of her son, who also worked there.

"Oh, Allah, where's my soul? Where's my son?" wailed Yasmine, who works at
another factory in the area. "I want the factory owner to be hanged. For
him, many have died, many have gone."

Mahbub said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a
warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors. Many workers who
retreated to the roof were rescued, he said. But he said that with no
emergency exits leading outside the building, many victims were trapped,
and firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor alone.

"The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the
ground floor," Mahbub said. "So the workers could not come out when the
fire engulfed the building."

"Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory,
the casualties would have been much lower," he said.

Many victims were burned beyond recognition. The bodies were laid out in
rows at a school nearby. Many of them were handed over to families;
unclaimed victims were taken to Dhaka Medical College for identification.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock at the loss of so many lives.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said it
would stand by the victims' families.

[olympiaworkers] Wal-Mart files U.S. labor charge against union

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is taking its first legal step to stop
months of protests and rallies outside Walmart stores, targeting the union
that it says is behind such actions.

Wal-Mart filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Food and
Commercial Workers International Union, or UFCW, asking the National Labor
Relations Board to halt what the retailer says are unlawful attempts to
disrupt its business.

The move comes just a week before what is expected to be the largest
organized action against the world's largest retailer, as a small group of
Walmart workers prepare to strike on Black Friday, typically the busiest
shopping day of the year.

"We are taking this action now because we cannot allow the UFCW to
continue to intentionally seek to create an environment that could
directly and adversely impact our customers and associates," Wal-Mart
spokesman David Tovar said on Friday. "If they do, they will be held
accountable."

The union is undeterred. "Walmart is grasping at straws," said UFCW
Communications Director Jill Cashen. "There's nothing in the law that
gives an employer the right to silence workers and citizens."

Protests and rallies outside Walmart stores around the country and other
actions such as flash mobs have been orchestrated by groups including OUR
Walmart, a coalition of thousands of current and former Walmart workers
that wants to collectively push for better wages, benefits and working
conditions.

"Wal-Mart is in effect firing a shot across the bow of the UFCW,
essentially saying 'Look, you can expect this and more unless you
desist,'" said Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of
California, Berkeley, who specializes in labor issues.

Filing with the NLRB suggests that the protests have caught the attention
of Wal-Mart, which has no union-represented workers in the United States.

OUR Walmart and another group, Making Change at Walmart, are affiliated
with the UFCW, which represents more than 1 million workers including many
at retailers that compete with Walmart. According to a filing with the
Labor Department, OUR Walmart was a subsidiary of the UFCW as of 2011.

Walmart worker and OUR Walmart member Mary Pat Tifft told Reuters that OUR
Walmart is an independent organization that gets technical support from
the union but that the UFCW has no stake or controlling interest in the
group.

"The fact that Wal-Mart is responding in such a public way is itself both
unusual and indicative that they truly don't want to see this spread,"
Shaiken said.

The NLRB typically receives a charge and investigates. At times, it
resolves issues without issuing a complaint, spokesman Tony Wagner said.
While most investigations take about six weeks, they can be expedited
under certain criteria, he said.

Activities over the past year or longer "have caused disruptions to
Walmart's business, resulted in misinformation being shared publicly about
our company, and created an uncomfortable environment and undue stress on
Walmart's customers, including families with children," Walmart outside
counsel Steven Wheeless said in a letter sent on Friday to Deborah Gaydos,
assistant general counsel of the UFCW.

PICKETING PROHIBITED

The National Labor Relations Act prohibits such picketing for more than 30
days without the filing of a representation petition. The NLRA also
requires the NLRB to seek a federal court injunction against such
activity, the letter states.

The OUR Walmart group of current and former Walmart employees has been
organizing 1,000 protests including strikes and what it called online
actions that began this week and will culminate on Black Friday.

For example, workers walked off the job in Seattle on Thursday and in
Dallas on Friday, OUR Walmart said.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart said that anyone who is not an
employee is prohibited from coming onto its owned or controlled parking
lots or other facilities to solicit, hand out literature or otherwise
engage in any demonstration.

Wal-Mart said that it intends for the UFCW to be held accountable for any
injury or property damage that may occur as a result of the actions led by
the union, OUR Walmart or any of its other affiliates.

Past attempts to unionize Walmart U.S. workers have failed. In 2005, Tire
and Lube Express department workers at stores in New Castle, Pennsylvania,
and Loveland, Colorado, voted against representation by the UFCW.

OUR Walmart is not a union, though the thousands of Walmart employees it
says are members do pay $5 monthly dues.

Wal-Mart has 1.4 million U.S. workers. Of 5 million job applications
Walmart U.S. received in 2011, 20 percent of the workers it hired were
coming back to the company. The turnover rate among Walmart U.S.
employees, 37.26 percent in 2011, was below the industry average of 43.6
percent, it says.

"We just don't think what the unions have to offer is a better deal for
our associates," said Wal-Mart's Tovar.

Wal-Mart filed its charge against the UFCW late on Thursday with the NLRB
regional office in Little Rock, Arkansas. The case number is 26-CB-093342.

For copies of Wal-Mart's letter to the UFCW and the NLRB charge document
click http://bit.ly/Qj5c0t and http://bit.ly/RZoNkD

For copies of Wal-Mart's letter to the UFCW and the NLRB charge document
click http://bit.ly/Qj5c0t and http://bit.ly/RZoNkD

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago. Additional writing by Phil Wahba in
New York; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Leslie Gevirtz)

[olympiaworkers] Hostess closing Seattle bakery following strike

Mon, 11/12/2012

Hostess Brands Inc. is permanently closing three bakeries following a
nationwide strike by its bakers union.

The maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread said Monday that the
strike has prevented it from producing and delivering products, and it is
closing bakeries in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The facilities
employ 627 workers.

Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, operates 36 bakeries nationwide and has
about 18,300 employees. It warned earlier this month that the strike, by
about 30 percent of its workforce, could lead to bakery closures.

"We deeply regret this decision, but we have repeatedly explained that we
will close facilities that are no longer able to produce and deliver
products because of a work stoppage - and that we will close the entire
company if widespread strikes cripple our business," Hostess Brands CEO
Gregory F. Rayburn said.

Hostess said customers will not be affected by the closures.

A representative for the union could not be reached immediately for
comment Monday.

Thousands of members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and
Grain Millers International Union went on strike Nov. 9 to protest cuts to
wages and benefits under a new contract offer, which the union rejected in
September. Union officials say the company stopped contributing to
workers' pensions last year.

Hostess has argued that workers must make concessions as it tries to
improve its financial position. The privately-held food maker filed for
Chapter 11 protection in January, its second trip through bankruptcy court
in less than a decade. Hostess cited increasing pension and medical costs
for employees as one of the drivers behind its latest filing.

The company, founded in 1930, is fighting battles beyond labor costs,
however. Competition is increasing in the snack space and Americans are
increasingly conscious about healthy eating.